David P. Thompson

David P. Thompson

David Preston Thompson (born November 8, 1834 in Cadiz , Harrison County , Ohio , †  December 14, 1901 in Portland , Oregon ) was an American politician . Among other things, he was the American envoy to the Ottoman Empire , governor of the Idaho Territory and mayor of Portland .

Early years

David Thompson grew up in Ohio and learned the trade of blacksmith there; later he worked in land surveying for the railroad. At the age of 19, he set out on foot for the Oregon Territory . On the way he took on temporary work. When he arrived he was impoverished. In Oregon he worked again as a surveyor for the railroad. Between 1857 and 1869 he was very successful in this profession. He had several land surveying contracts to fulfill and became a wealthy man in the process. He soon joined forces with partners.

Political rise

Thompson became a member of the Republican Party . From 1866 to 1872 he was a member of the Oregon Legislature . He was on the State Senate for four years and a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for the remaining two years . In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant made him the new Territorial Governor of what would become Idaho . Thompson was rarely there and was more concerned with his private business outside the Territory. For this reason he was recalled by the President in 1876. In the meantime, State Secretary Edward J. Curtis ruled the Idaho Territory until the arrival of the new governor .

Further career

In 1876, David Thompson was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati , where Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated as the party's presidential candidate. Thompson was Mayor of Portland between 1879 and 1881. He was then a member of the Oregon House of Representatives again in 1882 and 1888, a mandate to which he was also elected in 1878. In 1890 he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Oregon. In 1892, Thompson was appointed envoy to the Ottoman Empire by President Benjamin Harrison . He held this office until 1893. With the inauguration of President Grover Cleveland , who had been elected to a second term in 1892, Thompson was recalled in 1893 from his post. Later he was director ( regent ) of the University of Oregon . David Thompson was married to Mary R. Meldrum, with whom he had three children.

Web links

• David P. Thompson in the database of Find a Grave (English)